River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1887-12-29
PARIS PAvEMENTS,
An Army OF Men and Women Employed
I'm Cleaning EhcnI.

An Army OF Men aud Women Employed
in Cleaning Thcn.
Wooden pavements are slowly tax
/ ing the place of every other kind
in Paris. On the LIST of January. 1884.
this system had just been introduced
and was being experimental with on
a surface Of 707. 400 square feet; by the
end of the year 1852 056 square feet
Of streets was paved in this way.
Great as this rate of progress seems it
+ is not half fast enough. for there still
remains 90 so 900 square feet of
streets paved with stone or macadam-
With all their advantages of noise
7 lessness and cleanliness wooden pave
ments have the drawback of being
/ very expensive, not only TO put down.
bat also to keep in repair. 1t costs
90 is cents the square meter. while
stone pavemeuts do not ever cost more
than Is is the square meier. The
streets are shaded by 90 $50 trees, the
sidewalks are supplied with SSS:
benches where the tired may rest their
weary limbs, and to keep the
thorough res reasonably clean the
city expends p. $50. 900 francs an
nually.
A large portion Of this sum goes TO
+ pay tie 8. 600 men and women who are
employed to sweep the streets and gut
tiers with birch brooms. The brigade
of street sweepers come from the prov
inces, but Italy furnishes strong con-
tingent to the force. There are two
classes of these balayeurs and balay-
euses-the auxiliaries and The REGULARS.
The former are paid from 6 10 cents
an hour. and are expected 10 do ten
hours work day. which is divided up
rs follows: From to II n m. and
from l 10 4 p. H.; but il often hap
pens. in bad weather. that supple
mental hours of work have TO be per-
formed. while on the other hand. in
fair we ather. the days are cut down 10
half tim. The adNiliaries are re-
cruited according ID the need of the
service. aud many % them are men
aud women who have other trades in
which. for the time being. they are
unable to fnd employment, o. late
the city has male il rule TO off r five
or six days work as auxiliary balay-
eurs 10 the inmates of the night ref
uges. and in this way n number OF
deelasses-universi Y graduates. pro-
fessional men. eX-goyernment en-
ployes. etc. find their way into the
STRENGTHENING brigade. Few OF
these. however. remain in il
permanently. The regulars, who
are known as cOntonniers. are
employed b. the month. and no one i,
appointed who is past the age of forty
five years They receive fixed salary
Of 105 francs a month. and each gang
is under the command of chief who
is paid 100 francs a month for his serv-
ices rs boss. The balayeurs are divid-
ed into eight sections, and to each OF
them is assigned a section of the city.
A. intervals during the day the CHIEF
assemblies his gang and calls he rOl
10 assure himself that all are at theil
posts Women MS we'll as men are EN-.
ployed TO sweep. but few of them carr
as much a. so cents a dav. For mos
part the women who accept this en-
ployment are peasants from the en-.
virons of Paris. and they are usually
past middle life. The Other day the
baIayeurs and balayeuses held a meet
ing and resolved TO organize trad,
syndicate. with view to securing an
increase in their pay. which they claim
is not only too small. but is also too de-
pendent on the caprice of the official:
in charge of their department A,
modern cities go. Paris takes higi
rank for the cleanliness If its streets.
The cutters measure more than SOC
miles in length, and every morning
wafer is turned into them and they are
swept by ha ID Cor. " o. Picdytne.